When Barbie was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153born” into the Mattel family of toys in 1959, she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just a doll. She was the epicenter of a retail revolution.<\/p>\n
When parents bought their baby-boomer girls a Barbie, they were agreeing to an unspoken but implicit contract with the toy store to return time and again and buy stuff \u00e2\u20ac\u201c lots more stuff \u00e2\u20ac\u201c for Barbie.<\/p>\n
That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s how Mattel envisioned her. A kid wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be happy with just the Barbie and some clothes like any earlier doll would offer. Nope, Mattel created an entire fantasy world, with price tags attached to every damned thing in that world, from friends like Midge and sister Skipper, and of course, the sexless boyfriend Ken (whose irony-drenched advertising slogan was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Ken\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6. He\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a Doll!”) to Barbie houses, Barbie Sports cars, carrying cases, closets, apartments with Barbie-sized furniture, picnic sets and even a tiny Barbie Doll for Barbie to own!<\/p>\n
That first Barbie cost $3, and made Mattel more money than anyone could imagine, in all the accessories and extras and yes, the many, many clothes outfits that were available.<\/p>\n
It was such a success that it was inedvitable that someone withi a few years would come up with a Barbie equivalent for boys. That was Hasbro, and their G.I. Joe, which was marketed not as a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153doll”? (because god forbid boys should play with dolls), but as an \u00e2\u20ac\u0153action figure.”<\/p>\n
G.I. Joe, like Barbie was all about the extra stuff you could buy for the guy, not just the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153action figure” itself.<\/p>\n
The modern equivalent for baby boomers like me (who by the way, didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t play with Barbie or<\/em> G.I. Joe as a kid, but had plenty of \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Man from U.N.C.L.E” accessories that kept my folks going to Toys R Us) as well as younger generations, is the Apple iPod<\/a>.<\/p>\n With 10 million iPods sold (including the tiny and affordable Shuffles), and 70 percent of the MP3 player market, the iPod is creating own retail revolution. Now, shops beyond typical computer outlets are making space for an iPod section.<\/p>\n I got a 20 GB 4th generation, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153clickwheel” iPod for Christmas and filled it up so quickly that I upgraded to a 40 GB in February. It almost filled up within three weeks or so, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been keeping about 3 gigs open for new music or books by deleting some music as I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve added more.<\/p>\n I have over 10,239 tracks in there now, which is enough to play for 26 days straight. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s DAYS, not hours. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s mostly music, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve started adding audio books because I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve found I pay closer attention to books sitting in a bus than I ever did while driving.<\/p>\n But what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s frightening \u00e2\u20ac\u201c and for a shopaholic consumer like me, exhilarating \u00e2\u20ac\u201c is that the iPod, though pricey, is, like Barbie, only the hub of a wheel of spending.<\/p>\n There are a bewildering array of accessories you can get for every iPod model, starting with cases and earphones (though a lot of people still think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hip to wear the iconic white Apple earbuds that ship with the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcPods, they actually don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sound that great) and running to battery packs, remote controls, several ways to play your iPod through car and home stereos, and various speaker combinations that turn your \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcPod into a portable boombox.<\/p>\n A consumer study in march found that the average iPod owner spends $150 on accessories<\/a>.<\/p>\n Feh, that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s nuthin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c peanuts, compared to my ongoing iPod-inspired spree. There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a booming cottage industry in iPod extras, and I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m pretty sure I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m familiar with every company out there.<\/p>\n Although my Christmas present came with a Belkin<\/a> accessory kit that included cables, everything I needed to help me hook up my iPod with the car stereo, and a leather case, I ordered an iSkin eVo2<\/a> silicone case. I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t like the bulkiness of the case I had, and think the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153skin” type of case looks cooler.<\/p>\n The problem was, I also bought an Altec Lansing inMotion portable speakers<\/a> so I could listen to the iPod all day at work without plugging in my cheapo computer desktop speakers.<\/p>\n And to use the speaker, which cradles the iPod, I had to take the thing out of its silicone skin every morning and slip it back in every evening. It got to be a pain, and I started realizing that although it protected the iPod from superficial bumps and scratches, the skin wouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t save it form a fall.<\/p>\n So last week, I bought a better case (it was on sale, so I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t feel too guilty about it), the iShield<\/a> from Pacific Rim Technologies. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a case made of aircraft-grade aluminum, lined with foam, that protects the iPod while still allowing access to all its functions. And, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll protect the iPod from the inevitable drop, since I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a klutz.<\/p>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a great case, and I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t think I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be ordering some other type\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6 at least, not until something better comes around.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, I blew out my Apple earbuds in the first week (I didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t listen to my music THAT loud, really), and instead of returning it for replacements I ordered a pair of Koss earphones<\/a> called The Plug. I used to own the green, round, heavy Koss headphones that were the standard of the audio industry in the 1970s, so it was cool to get back to my \u00e2\u20ac\u0153roots,” so to speak.<\/p>\n The thing about earphones for portable MP3 players is that they usually sound terrible, and rightfully so, since most costs between $5 to $20. You do get what you pay for. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen those $500 earphones in the airline catalogs, but I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not that much of an audiophile fanatic. The problem is that cheapo earphones usually sacrifice one end or the other of the audio spectrum \u00e2\u20ac\u201c the treble or the bass.<\/p>\n But the $15 Koss Plugs are pretty good for the price. They have much more bass than most, and still manage to squeeze in a fair amount of the high end. Most rock listeners prefer to have more bass than treble.<\/p>\n The Plugs are named because they come with various sizes of foam earplugs that have holes through them, and the earpieces have a plastic tube that fits into the holes.<\/p>\n Since I spent years as a music critic, I was used to rolling the foam between my fingers and jamming them in. It took me a while to figure out that one ear canal points up while the other points down but once I figured it out, I was able to get pretty good sound while blocking out almost all extraneous sounds.<\/p>\n But while cruising the forums on my favorite iPod website, the indispensable iPodlounge<\/a>, I saw a mention of something called SlicSound<\/a>, a silicone sleeve that slips over a variety of earphones including The Plug. I ordered it, of course.<\/p>\n It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a $10 accessory (I wonder what the cheapest Barbie accessory ever was?) that comes delivered in a package with three sizes. After some experimentation I chose the middle size. These inserts, which are supposedly scientifically-designed by audiologists, are sort of curved. I found that by aiming the right ones upward and the left ones downward, they fit my ear canals well, and though they don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t keep outside noise out as well as the foam earplugs, they sound terrific \u00e2\u20ac\u201c clear, thumping bass and crisper-then-ever treble, without having to crank the volume almost to the highest level.<\/p>\n The best part is, I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have to spend a couple of awkward minutes every time I want to listen to my iPod, first stuffing the foam plugs in and then stabbing the earplugs with the plastic tubes into the holes in the foam plugs. These silicone puppies stay on the earplugs, and they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re nice and secure in my ear.<\/p>\n Lessee, what else have I spent money on?<\/p>\n A Griffin iTalk<\/a> voice recorder microphone, so I can record memos and ambient sounds. Belkin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Backup Battery Pack<\/a> so I can listen to my iPod when I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not close to an outlet to charge the iPod. Some software to back up music on my computer (which I haven\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t used yet). Some music downloads from iTunes \u00e2\u20ac\u201c though mostly I check out the free downloadable tracks every Tuesday).<\/p>\n But the ultimate iPod accessory, which I have purchased, is another iPod \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in my case, for my partner. Plus the Altec Lansing speakers and iShield case, naturally. No Shuffles in the house, or Minis, yet.<\/p>\n But just wait \u00e2\u20ac\u201c if I get an itch to have just a collecton of classical, or jazz on one iPod, a Mini might be just the answer. Gee, I wonder how long it’ll take for Mattel to come out with an iPod Barbie?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When Barbie was \u00e2\u20ac\u0153born” into the Mattel family of toys in 1959, she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t just a doll. She was the epicenter of a retail revolution. When parents bought their baby-boomer girls a Barbie, they were agreeing to an unspoken but implicit contract with the toy store to return time and \u2026 Continue reading